buffyfandomcom-20200223-history
The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco
| | | | | }} | gueststarring = }} | costarring = }} | uncredited = | | }}}} }} "The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of Angel and the ninety-fourth episode overall. Written and directed by Jeffrey Bell, it was originally broadcast on November 5, 2003 on the WB network. Synopsis On the Mexican Day of the Dead, Angel has a run-in with a masked Wolfram & Hart employee who's connected to an Aztec warrior demon named Tezcatcatl, who preys on the hearts of heroes. This leads Angel to wrestle with some personal issues when he learns about "Los Hermanos Numeros", a family of five Mexican wrestlers who helped the helpless until one day they were slain by Tezcatcatl, except for the fifth brother. Angel helps the last member, "Number Five", discover the hero inside, which he lost when his family was killed. Meanwhile, Spike researches the Shanshu Prophecy and thinks that he, not Angel, may be the vampire who will become human. Continuity *When Angel mentions "The Father Will Kill The Son"-prophecy, Wesley says "What are you talking about?". Wesley doesn't remember anything about that prophecy (despite it being the cause of his betrayal of Angel in Season 3) because of Angel's "deal" with Wolfram & Hart (in the Season 4 finale "Home") in which Angel agreed to take over the Los Angeles Branch in exchange for Connor being given a new (normal) family and home. This causes everyone (except Angel, Eve, Cordelia, and Cyrus Vail) to forget all about Connor (including the prophecy). *Number Five can be seen in several previous episodes but this is the first time he has any dialogue. This episode also marks Number Five's last appearance. *Holland Manners' year of birth was given as 1951 in "Blood Money,' which would have made him 2 years old during the time he appears in the flashback in this episode. Clearly his association with Wolfram & Hart involves some sort of longevity spell. *The speech Angel gives to Número Cinco at the wrestling match is a re-wording of the "If Nothing We Do Matters" speech he gave to Kate in Epiphany. *Spike and Angel discussed the Shanshu prophecy in "Hell Bound." Arc Significance *Now that he has a soul, Spike has realized that the Shanshu Prophecy may apply to him as well, not just Angel. This conflict will be explored greatly in Destiny Body Count * Carlos and a security guard, hearts extracted by Tezcatcatl * Homeless man, heart extracted by Tezcatcatl * Numero Cinco's brothers, killed by Tezcatcatl (only mentionned) * Numero Cinco, killed by Tezcatcatl * Tezcatcatl, killed with knives by Numero Cinco's brothers ghosts and Angel Behind the Scenes Production *This episode had the longest cold opening in the whole series so far at 6 minutes and 18 seconds. The record was previously held by Release. It is later beaten by Harm's Way only a few episodes later, which has an cold opening of 6 minutes and 49 seconds. *When Carlos is attacked at the start of the episode, as he is thrown through the air, he emits the infamous Wilhelm scream. This familiar scream sound effect has been heard in over 140 movies and various TV shows. *Writer/director Jeffrey Bell explains that he always wanted to work Mexican wrestling into one of his The X-Files scripts, but it wasn't until he pitched the idea to creator Joss Whedon that he was able to realize his "lifelong dream - to tell a story about Mexican wrestlers."Jeff Bell - Cult Times Magazine Interview Goofs, Bloopers & Continuity Errors *When Numero Cinco is given the business card for Wolfram & Hart, the phrase "Attorneys at Law" is incorrectly pluralized as "Attorney's at Law." It is unlikely that such a large firm would have a typo on their cards. *The card Numero Cinco is given carries the name "Holland Manners," implying he was hired when Holland was still at the firm. If this was the case, he would have been killed by The Beast during Season 4. *When Angel is on the phone with Fred, Angel's reflection is briefly visible in a window pane in front of him. Pop Culture References *Gunn calling Angel's signature his "Herbie Hancock" is most likely a reference to the Chris Farley movie Tommy Boy, where the titular Tommy character confuses the Declaration of Independence signer John Hancock with the American jazz performer. International titles *'German': Der Tag der Toten (The Day of the Dead) *'French': Coeur de héros (Heart of a hero) Music *Robert J. Kral - original score *Patricia vonne - Traeme Paz (plays during the flashback sequence in the bar) *Calexio - Guero Canelo (plays when Angel and Number 5 watch a wrestling match) Other *This is the only episode that mentions the cult favorite 'character' Diablo Robótico. References nl:The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco Category:Angel Season 5